Councillor hits out at bilingual ‘fanatics’

“FANATICS” and “bullies” in the Welsh Government are wasting money by insisting forms are sent out in both English and Welsh, a councillor has claimed.

Vale of Glamorgan councillor Kevin Mahoney says communications such as forms being sent out in Welsh out of “political correctness” are just ending up in the bin by people who do not use the language.

He also accused the Welsh Government of creating a “bubble” around the Welsh language and “discriminating” against the 85% of the population who do not speak it.

The Welsh Government defended its efforts to promote the Welsh language, while a Plaid Cymru councillor said Welshspeakers deserve equality of service.

Cllr Mahoney called on the Vale of Glamorgan Council to contact every home in the region to ask them if they want their communications in English only, Welsh only or both.

He said: “They are ensuring all these Welsh-language forms that are not required are immediately put in the bin. Why would you want to do that on a point of political correctness?

“Surely it would be better to spend that money elsewhere. I would rather it being spent learning the Welsh language than being chucked in the bin.

“They would rather see that money wasted all the time.”

At a meeting of the Vale of Glamorgan Council earlier this week, Councillor Bob Penrose said the local authority is required by law to treat Welsh and English on an equal basis when dealing with the public and council literature is required to be bilingual.

In response to a query by Cllr Mahoney, he said information on how much literature in Welsh had been returned to the council was not held centrally.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Eight-six per cent of people in Wales believe the Welsh language is something to be proud of.

“We agree with them and make no apologies for promoting its use or complying with the law around the Welsh language.”